


Night Flight

by MustelaVision



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Conversations, F/F, Reconciliation, lapinet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 05:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13117323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MustelaVision/pseuds/MustelaVision
Summary: In which Garnet goes for a walk and runs into somebody unexpected.





	Night Flight

Garnet emerged from her temple room, careful to step quietly so as not to awaken Steven, whose light snores sounded throughout the house. She couldn't help but take a moment to stop and smile fondly at him sleeping so peacefully. Lion, who lay atop Steven's bed next to him, half-opened one eye in a lazed gaze and gave Garnet a small grunt of acknowledgement before rolling over and dozing off again. 

With that, Garnet set off outside, gingerly closing the door behind her. Leaning on the balcony facing the ocean, she closed her eyes and took in the cool, salty breeze. It was incredibly refreshing. Upon opening her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of the full moon; its pale yellow glow illuminating the dark indigo sky and the deep blue tide. Against this backdrop, Garnet stepped onto the beach ready to begin a needed night walk to clear her head. 

Focusing on the feeling of the sand on her feet and the sounds of the crashing waves against the shore, Garnet headed towards the water. She held her arms out and raised her head unwavering, allowing the sea water to cascade down upon her several times. She stepped back after several minutes, shaking herself dry and regaining composure. Letting the waves descend upon her and wash any physical tension that built up in her body was incredibly cathartic. Therapeutic though it is for her, this particular ritual is one which she did not care to explain to anyone, not even Pearl, Amethyst or Steven. Not that she was ashamed of this particular ritual, it was simply easier for her not to have to explain it to anyone. 

Stepping away from the surf, Garnet headed toward the northwest side of the coast around the temple. Treading the sands with a relaxed gait, she casually scanned the beach until she spotted a glowing green fleck in the sand. She crouched down to pick it up and upon inspection it was a piece of the Gem ship that crashed down nearly 2 years ago. She frowned. She thought they had combed the beach free of the debris, but it was inevitable that trace amounts would remain serving as a reminder of the looming threat of Homeworld. 

_Whoosh!_

A sudden gust of wind rushed in behind Garnet nearly sweeping her off her feet and scattering the sand in a huge flurry. Looking in every which direction, a bemused and shaken Garnet attempted to discover the source of it. Whatever it was, it was not from the usual atmospheric changes as the skies were calm and the breeze was light. Garnet made sure to pay better attention to her future vision. On nights like these when she went on her walks, she made more of an effort to ignore her future vision in order to relax. However, with a potential threat on the horizon she could not afford to do so this time.

She continued her walk away from the temple keeping her guard up until she came upon some caves carved into the cliffs over time by the wind and the water. She entered one of the caves. Moonlight dappled through the cavern roof openings both big and small illuminating the puddles of water within. In order to get a better look around to ensure she was alone, Garnet lit up the room with the gems on her palms and with a keen eye spotted a shadow of a figure flee into the darkness. 

Garnet smirked. Using her power, she could determine that whoever was hiding was no threat to her at the present time, so she picked a dry elevated surface at the mouth of the cave to sit down and chill. Business as usual, though the constant shuffling from the unexpected presence was really ruining the vibe.

"I know you're there Lapis Lazuli. It's alright, you can come out," Garnet said calmly.

A blue Gem in a dress and a crop top crept out of the darkness slowly approaching Garnet. She let her gaze roam from Garnet who was looking straight ahead to the cave entrance. Her movements betrayed her indecisiveness at wanting to either escape confrontation or stick it out. She chose the latter and settled down next to Garnet. 

She greeted her with a simultaneously wary and deadpan "Hey." 

"You could have just flown away you know. And yet... you chose to stay and sit here with me." Garnet remarked, staring into the distance

Lapis hugged her legs close to her chest. "Yeah, well don't think it's because I wanna be all 'buddy buddy' with you or anything. I just figured if I didn't, you'd question me about this later. Might as well get it over with I guess." 

Garnet raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Heh, the Lapis I'm familiar with would try to avoid this exact situation.” 

"Ha! You're one to talk Ms. I-can't-let-anyone-see-my-weaknesses-so-I-use-isolating-coping-mechanisms-to-deal-with-my-stress. At least, I'm taking baby steps,” Lapis snapped wryly.

She continued speaking after a short bout of silence, cocking her head towards Garnet. "Bet you're wondering how I know all this right? Well, being trapped in a mirror, you get to see and hear everything within earshot and viewing distance of those using you whether you want to know about it or not."

At this, Garnet stared down shifting uncomfortably but turned her head back towards Lapis as she continued.

"Let's just say that in between your numerous sessions of using me to admire yourself, I've heard you say things about expressing doubt about your capabilities of being a leader and living up to uh... her... uh Rose Quartz's legacy as one too." 

"Ah, I see." remarked Garnet. 

"Heh," Lapis bitterly chuckled. "Do you? Do you see?! You and the others used me without a second thought and that's all you have to say to is 'I see?!’” 

"I-I'm sorry..." Garnet said, remorse echoing in her voice.

Lapis turned her head towards her, making an effort to look at her. "Hmph. Better late than never I guess. Well, uh I'm sorry too." She gestured twirling her hands vaguely. "Y'know, about everything that I did to you guys like stealing the ocean and losing control with the whole Malachite situation and stuff."

Her chest heaved as she sighed deeply. "And everything else I've done too. Jasper... Peridot... you all... I've hurt a lot of people. I don't expect forgiveness, but it feels good to actually get the chance to really apologize to someone I've hurt. I-I'm sorry I snapped at you like that. It's just... you know still hard... living with those memories and not having them be acknowledged by those who hurt you. It just felt dismissive, y'know?"

Garnet reached out her hand to put a reassuring hand on Lapis' shoulder reflexively, but pulled away when she thought better of it considering the still delicate state of their relationship. Things were finally going in a positive direction and she didn't want to ruin it, so she decided to proceed carefully with her words. She removed her shades revealing soulful, apologetic eyes, looking at Lapis as she spoke.

"I understand. I-I'm glad that I'm getting the chance to apologize to you too. You know... even as a Fusion formed from two very different types of Gems, I, as well as Ruby and Sapphire, still have internalized a lot of Homeworld's toxic societal influences. To deny someone their autonomy and put them in an object and use them without a second thought... Even though I didn't put you in the mirror, I-I'm deeply ashamed that I was complicit in using you like that. I emphasize consent when it comes to fusion, but when it came to your situation I..." 

Her eyes welled with tears, but she quickly brushed them away. "I... didn't give it a second thought, but... I should have." 

She gave a heavy sigh. "We all have things to unlearn and we all have to take responsibility for the things we've done that have hurt others. I'm glad that you're starting to do that and I hope I can continue to do the same. Again, I'm sorry." 

A somber silence followed as Lapis and Garnet both stared at each other, the only sounds in the cavern being water droplets falling from the stalactites into the shallow pools and the roar of the waves echoing on the inside. Lapis was the one to break the tension. She stood up and took a few steps towards the cave entrance and turned around to face her, rubbing her shoulder bashfully. 

"Hey, uh thanks... for keepin it real with me. I'm gonna leave now but I was thinking that, you know since I kinda barged in on your destress sesh and all that I could make it up to you by taking you on a night flight with me. That's how I destress. Maybe you might like it too." 

Garnet was taken aback. "I'm appreciative of the offer, but I'm very surprised you want to do this considering everything."

"Truthfully, I don't really know what's come over me right now either. I just wanna try to move forward now that we've actually talked about it and this is my way of doing it," Lapis shrugged.

"Well... alright. I'll take you up on it!"

Lapis approached Garnet and scooped her up now cradling her in her arms. It felt a bit strange for Lapis at first all things considered but she was determined to see this through. 

"Alright keep your arms and legs inward while in the air. We're about to take off," ordered Lapis as she materialized her wings and prepared for takeoff. 

With a massive beat of both wings, Lapis and Garnet shot up into the air above the beach and set off disappearing into the clouds. Garnet didn't know where Lapis was taking her but she didn't care to ask. She just wanted to enjoy the ride. Also, she never asked questions. Ever. It was just her way. 

The scenery below changed gradually as they flew further from temple and Beach City. Sandy beach transitioned to lush forest which in turn transitioned to green countryside. Though she was enjoying herself immensely and wanted to continue further, Garnet knew that she needed to return before dawn and so told Lapis who turned around back towards the temple. 

Garnet felt Lapis shift her arms a few times adjusting her position in her arms. She could tell she was getting tired.

"Don't drop me now!" Garnet remarked playfully.

A small smirk crept across Lapis' face and a few seconds later Garnet found herself in the water. 

"Woops!"

She disappeared beneath the depths for a few moments and reemerged finding the blue gem playfully flying circles around her with a shiteating grin on her face. Garnet simply shook her head at her.

Lapis stopped in front of her and shrugged tauntingly. "What? You said not to drop you 'now' so I dropped you a few seconds later!"

"Having future vision, I really should have seen that coming. Good thing I'm a really good swimmer," Garnet commented dryly, turning her face to one side in an effort to hide a grin.

"Heh, sorry had to take the opportunity to have a bit of fun with you!" Lapis said crossing her arms casually.

"Eh, it was pretty funny. You have a good sense of humor Lapis!" 

"Pssh!" Lapis scoffed trying to hide a blush. 

"Heh," Garnet chuckled. 

Lapis scooped Garnet up from the water and they continued their flight in silence. When they reached the beach, Lapis dropped off Garnet in front of the sea cave from where they had taken off. 

"I'm glad we ran into each other tonight," Garnet smiled. 

"Yeah, same," Lapis replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. 

"You know..." she continued after a pause.  
"If we ever run into each other like this again, I could take you flying around again or whatever."

Garnet smiled at her. “I'd like that."

A long pause followed thereafter until Lapis broke it once again with an unintentionally abrupt: 

"Well, uh goodnight!" 

And flew away into the night 

"Goodnight Lapis!" Garnet shouted after her waving goodbye. Lapis looked over her shoulder and waved back. 

From that night thereafter, they both made arrangements to meet each other every so often to have conversations that they felt they couldn't have with anyone else. There were other times when there would be a comfortable silence between them, both enjoying whatever the night had to offer wherever they decided to go or stay.

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT (8/21/18): Made some edits so some of the wording is less awkward.


End file.
